Soon, oh soon the light

No particular reason, just lovely music.



The sun will lead us, our reason to be here.

You say you got a real solution Well, you know We'd all love to see the plan

(Revolution-The Beatles)

I went to a meet-up today with a guy running for Congress. He came highly recommended, but still, I was a little unsure.

When he started talking, though, I was mesmerized. This guy is smart, his ideas are solid and progressive, and I hope he kicks ass and wins the seat in the Illinois-05 district recently vacated by Rahm Emmanuel.

Ladies, gentlemen, wake the neighbors, call the kids, I introduce you to Tom Geoghegan (pronounced Gay-gun):

In my life as a lawyer I have lived out a commitment to one cause above all – to bring economic security to working Americans, in our District, in our country. That’s the same commitment I will bring to Congress. We’re deep in an economic crisis unlike any other we’ve known. It may last years. We need new and creative ways to protect working Americans, especially our older working people who have no real pensions to live on.

For years we’ve heard the doomsayers: “We can’t afford Social Security.” “We can’t afford ‘single payer’ national health.” One thing we all learned from the $700 billion bailout: We’ve got the money to do all of this and more. At the moment, the Federal Reserve is literally printing money, to give not billions but trillions to banks and financial firms. To the people of this District, the banks and others have gotten their money. Now it’s your turn. Here’s the bailout I will go to Congress to get:

First, I want to expand Social Security, our public pension system, to replace, not overnight but in stages, the private pension system which has collapsed. Social Security now pays about 38 to 39 percent of your working income. In other developed countries, it averages 65 percent. That’s where our fiscal stimulus should be: a commitment to reach this goal, a public pension that ordinary working people can live on.

Second, we have to move to single payer health care program, at least in phases: we might begin with extending Medicare to children, but the government should ultimately be the single payer for all. That’s not because single payer is the only ethical and efficient way to protect us all. No, it’s also because it is crucial to making us competitive globally. Through single payer and expanded Social Security, the goal is to pick up the “non-wage” labor costs that employers now have to pay. That’s already how other countries out-compete us: they have the government and not the private employer pick up these non-wage health and pension costs.

Here's Tom in his own words:



The event today, at the offices of Brave New Films, was videotaped. When the editing is done, I'll post it.

This is a deeply serious guy, with complex, nuanced positions and proposals. While he is totally capable of throwing out the pithy slogan, his answers to questions posed today clearly indicate that's he's been thinking about this for a while. Not a political naif, but a well-prepared candidate.

Makes me wish I could vote in Illinois. Tom will make a great addition to a Democratically controlled congress.

Finally the tables are starting to turn, Talkin' bout a revolution

(Tracy Chapman-Talkin' About a Revolution)

Several really good books on progressive politics and values have come out in the last year or so. The most recent is The Progressive Revolution, by Mike Lux:

Washington, D.C. – Fresh off his role as a senior adviser to the Office of Public Liaison on the Obama/Biden Transition Team, Washington, D.C. veteran, political operative and now historian Mike Lux releases his new book: The Progressive Revolution: How the Best in America Came to Be.

Readers will quickly find an accessible and up-to-the-moment history primer that illustrates how progressives created the ideas we hold most dear in America. Lux points to America’s triumphs and failures in past progressive revolutions to give President-Elect Obama a clear roadmap to consider as he takes office. Fittingly, the book will publish on the same week Barack Obama will be sworn in as our nation’s 44th President.

Mike is one of the good guys, smart and on-point:

Michael Lux is the CEO of Progressive Strategies, L.L.C., a Washington-based political consulting firm. He is also President of American Family Voices, a non-profit multi-issue advocacy group. He had a role in the development of MoveOn.org, Air America, The Ed Schultz Radio Show and the Center for American Progress. In July 2007, he launched OpenLeft.com with prominent bloggers Matt Stoller and Chris Bowers, which is dedicated to building a progressive governing majority in America. He has played a significant role in five different presidential campaigns, most notably that of Bill Clinton, in whose administration Lux served from 1993-1995. Lux is also a regular columnist for The Huffington Post and most recently, he served as a senior adviser to the Obama/Biden Transition Team.

Check out the website link, and read the book.

Here's an unrelated but interesting video of Mike talking about progressive organizations and their leaders:

I will follow

There's been some bitching in the progressive bloggersphere that the new Obama administration hasn't been picking real progressives for senior positions. Emanuel, Clinton, etc., represent, to some, not "Change" but business as usual. At least they have 'D' after their names.

But I'm not too worried. I think 2nd & 3rd tier positions, where most of the policies will actually be written, are often more important than the figureheads. We'll see.

But I'm encouraged today by this from Pres.-elect Obama, in his Saturday address:

"I have already directed my economic team to come up with an Economic
Recovery Plan that will mean 2.5 million more jobs by January of 2011
– a plan big enough to meet the challenges we face that I intend to
sign soon after taking office. We'll be working out the details in
the weeks ahead, but it will be a two-year, nationwide effort to
jumpstart job creation in America and lay the foundation for a strong
and growing economy. We'll put people back to work rebuilding our
crumbling roads and bridges, modernizing schools that are failing our
children, and building wind farms and solar panels; fuel-efficient
cars and the alternative energy technologies that can free us from our
dependence on foreign oil and keep our economy competitive in the
years ahead. "

Sounds pretty damn progressive to me.